Today if we turn to CNN, Fox News, Yahoo or Reuters, those are three headlines we will never read. And, if we did, they would only be news because of the absurd unlikeliness of the headline being true.

Last night some friends gathered and shared their stories. Our friends Kyle, Emma and Ellie stepped forward, up from the darkened rows of their seats and into the spotlight. In the glow of the stage lights surrounded by friends, fans and flawed people like them they spoke.

This coming weekend I will be on a retreat. The images I’m featuring on #mysilentscream this week will be from works of “art” I created on various TreeHouse staff retreats.

I might struggle with painting and drawing, aesthetics and having an eye, but since I was in high school poetic words came more easily.

I learned to put words on paper
That reached deep into my creative soulWithin the frame of eternityThe poet wrote the verseA gift to one and anotherRevealed but thought perverseBroken, bleeding, stripped, exposedOur God hung humiliatedUnbound, unburied, freed from pain of deathHeaven’s poet stretched and celebrated

This coming weekend I will be on a retreat. I’ve been on many retreats. Some of my favorite retreats have been TreeHouse retreats. The images I will be featuring on #mysilentscream this week will be from works of “art” I created on various TreeHouse staff retreats.

I know of no art medium that covers up bad art skills more than pastels. So when my friend Jill challenged me to create art with pastels in hand I was less afraid of failure and rejection for my lack of skills.

Last night I had the hardest support group I’ve led in more than ten years. Teens yelling, screaming, not listening to one another nearly enough.

At TreeHouse teens learn that they are not alone in dealing with any issue. There is always someone who can relate to what is going on in another group member’s life. Teens learn how to support someone else in need. They are reminded that they are lovable, capable and worthwhile. TreeHouse support groups become a place where youth know that they will always be listened to and that what they say matters to others.

Today TreeHouse is thrilled to welcome six time Grammy winner, Amy Grant, as our Women Of Hope keynote speaker and musical guest. (Sorry, it’s sold out)

In 1984 seventeen year old Amy Fayas and twenty-one year old Scott Volltrauer were both at an Amy Grant concert. We didn’t know one another then, and wouldn’t meet for a couple more years but our hearts were both connected to the same sweet songs of Amy Grant.

It’s been years since I was a regular listener, but Amy Grant’s songs helped anchor my young faith. Here are a few examples of lessons her songs taught me.

I spent hours this week listening to and reading the lyrics of the current Billboard Hot 100. Musicians are often viewed as spokespersons of their generation.

For the cynics among us, it’s not all bad news.

At TreeHouse every week we remind our teens that “you’re not alone” because so many people – young and old – feel like they are the only one dealing with those feelings and thoughts. So it’s good news that two of the most popular songs have self-affirming messages.